The Higgs was the last missing ingredient of the Standard Model, a suite of equations that has ruled particle physics for the last half-century, explaining everything from the smell of a rose to the ping when your computer boots up. According to this model, the universe brims with energy that acts like a cosmic molasses, imbuing the particles that move through it with mass, the way a bill moving through Congress attracts riders and amendments, becoming more and more ponderous and controversial.

For teachers you want to introduce their students to these complex issues in a rather simple way have a look to this animation:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/10/08/science/the-higgs-boson.ht...